Seasonal hiring to nosedive during inflation, recession fears: expert

Seasonal hiring is expected to plunge by nearly 40% this holiday season as retail, warehouse and transportation companies dramatically cut back amid decades-high inflation and fears of a looming recession, according to new data.

The three key sectors plan to add 592,400 seasonal employees, a whopping 37% drop from the 940,300 hires announced last year, according to executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which tracks government data and hiring trends.

The number of retail jobs in October declined by 28% to 162,000 compared to a year ago, data showed. The figures for transportation and warehouse, which are lumped together in the report, plummeted 46%, to 121,000, from the same period last year.

“Companies may be reluctant to announce their seasonal hiring plans, even if they do intend to hire, due to economic uncertainty,” Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of the firm, said in a statement. “Some may not want or need to make a hiring push right now.”

The inflation rate was at 8.2% in September despite multiple rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, leading many CEOs to brace for a recession in the next 12 to 18 months.

Among retailers, Macy’s is expected to hire 41,000 for the holidays, down from 76,000 last year. Walmart plans even steeper cuts, adding 40,000 new jobs — compared to 150,000 last year.

Other popular chain stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods announced it is hiring 1,000 fewer workers, or 9,000, compared to last year, while Michael’s will slash hiring by 5,000, down to 15,000.

The United States Postal Service is also cutting back, hiring just 28,000 temporary workers, compared to 40,000 in 2021.

Both Target and Amazon are expected to buck the downward trend, saying they would hire roughly the same number of employees — about 100,000 — as last year. However, Amazon is freezing hiring in its Web services division as The Post reported exclusively.